Readin', writin', and 'rithmetic are more important, but looks count too-whether you like it or not
I have never attended a beauty pageant. I have never participated (snort, sheyeah, ME? Dorkalicious me?) in a pageant. My kids have never participated in a pageant. The thought of being involved in any way with a beauty pageant makes me begin to shudder and tremble worse than I do when...oh never mind.
That being said, Ah've just about had it, y'all, and I'm going to shout, and stamp my perky little feet, and cross my arms, and pout about this endless vilification of poor dead Patsy Ramsey and the GODDAMN BEAUTY PAGEANTS THAT JONBENET PARTICIPATED IN.
Let's deconstruct the arguments.
Beauty pageants serve no socially redeeming purpose.
Yeah, and I guess watching Everybody Loves Raymond or Sex And The City or the World Series or reading Danielle Steel does? What were you doing last night at, oh, say...7:00? Were you tutoring inner city children or something else equally saintly? If not, shut up.
Beauty pageants demean women, teaching that that the world is only concerned about their looks.
And the world is concerned about....um....I'm sorry, I'm laughing too hard to write. What do you freaking think the world is concerned about?
People judge each other on looks, and if my kids learn that lesson, then by God they'll be able to deal with it. I'm teaching them to eat right to keep their figures and will teach them self defense so they won't get hurt by men with Tiny Little China Doll fetishes, and I'm also going to teach them that they had better dress nicely and keep their fingernails clean if they want to get ahead in the world.
I can't do anything about the fact that we are biologically programmed to judge each other on looks.
I can teach them that what's in their heart and mind is more important and if you think that a 9th grade dropout can win the Miss American pageant I suggest you take at look at the winners. Each one has a very impressive academic record.
Did you know that the most of the models on Deal Or No Deal have degrees, including one who is a member of the California Bar and one who is going to medical school in the fall? I don't know what that has to do with anything, but I threw it in anyway.
Also, competing in beauty pageants teaches poise. Inarticulate girls don't take home the tiaras.
Patsy "sexualized" JonBenet by having her sing songs at pageants while being videotaped.
Have you actually watched the videos, which I might remind you were taped in front of small audiences made up of friends and family? (Do you think anybody else attends events starring small children? I can tell you the answer is no.)
Anyway, JonBenet sways and twitches while wearing makeup and singing songs like "I Want To Be A Cowboy's Sweetheart." Now if you think that's "sexual", then I think you're the pervert. Sweet Jesus, to hear the howls, you'd think she was performing Britney Spears-like moves and singing about her desire to get laid before her sixth birthday.
My kids wear makeup for their ballet performances. It means nothing except that the audience can see their facial features a little better. Every ballerina wears heavy stage makeup.
Patsy, my Southern sister in distress, here's hoping that you and JonBenet are strolling down the streets of gold holding hands right now.
Requiescant in pace.
p.s. I guess it goes without saying that after 24 years of lawyering, 17 years of criminal professoring (albeit at a community college level so totally without merit or prestige), reading 12 books on the subject, and surfing Mrs. Brady's URLs for years that I have come to believe, along with John Douglas, that poor Patsy was...well...a patsy.
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9 comments:
I agree with you. My nieces were in pageants, and they are fine. It's all about moderation, as is everything in life.
i agree with you 100%. JonBenet was a pretty little girl and her mom wanted to show her off a bit. i hope they are together again. kris
while the padgents do creep me out a bit, I don't think Patsy is/was guilty of anything except repeating the childhood activities she particpated in, in an excessive degree.
it's a shame that a family has spent all of their money defending and trying to prove their innocence. Once the money was all gone, they sold their home here in ATL, and moved to Michigan. They only returned home so Patsy could die surrounded by their "true" friends and family. There are NO winners in the JonBennet story.
mommie doris
Judging by your words, I must disagree. Beauty pageants for children are harmful and silly.
As a matter of fact, I tutor inner city kids *every night* at 7:00, while knitting hats for orphaned children and cooking up vats of chili for homeless veterans. So there!
Brainhell,
They are silly but they aren't harmful. Trophies are handed out like Tic-tacs, you know. That's why the entrance fees are so high--to afford all the big trophies for everybody.
I personally think they're a waste of time. I just think poor Patsy ought to be left alone.
Patsy who?
I get what you are saying Lorrie. But I just wonder how positive it is for girls to compete to see who can look like a minature barbie dolls. It sends a message to these little girls that there is one kind of beauty for them to aspire to.
I admit that I've watched a documentary or two on child pagents and reveled in the horror. I think that for us people who were the dorkalicious kids there is some satisfaction in talking down this world. I mean if I really pretended I didn't care I wouldn't watch, would I?
I don't have any issues with scholarship pagents and such. I have two people I am friendly with who competed in the Miss Virginia competition, both smart and talented (one went to Duke, the other William and Mary) One is a very sweet, nice and humble person. The other is one of the most vain and self-oriented persons I have ever met.
fantastic post!
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